tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058407148958837282018-03-06T03:45:38.257+08:00Ubuntu LivingManaging day-to-day stuff with UbuntuDominique Gerald Cimafrancanoreply@blogger.comBlogger281125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-6552181868749628532011-05-01T06:43:00.003+08:002011-05-01T07:14:59.119+08:00On Ubuntu 11.04<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V66M2Vm1DEU/TbyRWCo97nI/AAAAAAAAE-4/deQ0JcG1IIc/s1600/natty.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V66M2Vm1DEU/TbyRWCo97nI/AAAAAAAAE-4/deQ0JcG1IIc/s320/natty.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601511844393905778" /></a><br />I did an in-place upgrade of the Ubuntu 10.10 running on my mother's netbook to Ubuntu 11.04. I had it run overnight, and by morning, <span style="font-style:italic;">voila!</span>, I had Natty Narwhal on the computer. The upgrade went by without a hitch; real sweet, considering this was a Wubi installation.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>I can't say I'm too fond of the new Unity interface yet, though. I like the simplicity, but I've just gotten far too used to the old way of working. Unity just hides several icons so it was at first confusing to look up applications. That said, I'll keep this on for a month or so and see how this works out for me.<br /><br />The upgrade offered to replace old staples like OpenOffice.org and Totem with LibreOffice and Banshee. It also put in the new Firefox 4. I took all proffered upgrades as I don't think they'll break any files I have. <br /><br />Ubuntu One looks much slicker than before. If it works as it should, I'll consider using it again.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/fDYhwRv-9CY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/04/ipod-touch-and-ubuntu-1004.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-89697048882715267182010-04-06T11:20:00.001+08:002010-04-06T11:20:41.598+08:00Lucid Lynx two weeks afterWhile still in Beta, Lucid Lynx is humming along quite nicely two weeks after I installed it on my Acer laptop. Sure, there are the little annoyances linked to using a Beta product from Ubuntu, for instance, the large daily updates of software and the occasional application crash. For the most part, though, Lucid Lynx is quite usable and I&#39;m growing to like it.<br> <br>To be honest, I was prepared to dislike Ubuntu 10.04, as I&#39;ve come to dread new releases. The six-month cycle is a tad too aggressive, and each new version brings with it changes that somehow break the experience for me. And really, Lucid Lynx is no exception: the decision to move the control icons from right to left is hasty and unwise, and the vaunted color scheme is simply <i>meh</i>. But I&#39;ve come to accept that these changes are minor and easily resolved with some personal customizations.<br> <br>The other parts I thought I&#39;d dislike didn&#39;t really bother me at all:<br><ul><li>Losing The GIMP wasn&#39;t the dealbreaker I thought it would be. Sure, I still installed it afterwards, but then I really only use GIMP nowadays for cropping, resizing, and minor color adjustments, things I couid as easily do with F-Spot.</li> <li>The deal with Yahoo! doesn&#39;t really substantially change the experience with the browser. You can still use Google for the search engine. Just about the only major change is that the Yahoo! icon features more prominently in the search page if you opt for Yahoo! in the Firefox search toolbar.</li> </ul>Some pleasant surprises, too:<br><ul><li>Lynx boots up just as fast as before, but shutdown? Really fast. You can turn the machine off in under 5 seconds.</li><li>Integration with Ubuntu One seems much tighter, so much so that I&#39;ll be using it regularly now.</li> <li>Some nice new apps and a more streamlined menu.</li></ul>However, the jury&#39;s still out on the performance of Wine on this version. Some games wouldn&#39;t run as smoothly as they did before.<br><br>All told, I&#39;m looking forward to the final release.<br> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/qJePo4Dvde8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/04/lucid-lynx-two-weeks-after.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-19485385231243276942010-03-31T07:20:00.003+08:002010-03-31T09:00:18.924+08:00Left or Right?Every new release of Ubuntu brings with it something new. Sometimes the users like it, sometimes they don't. Most of the time, the changes aren't so drastic that people don't really notice too much. <br /><br />Not this time, though. The Ubuntu folks, through a newly formed usability team, decided to try something really radical in 10.04: they moved the window control button from the right to the left.<br /><br /><div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S7KFZU9XQ2I/AAAAAAAAEAY/iUaqc_mJM-Y/s1600/left-or-right-757702.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454568768868402018" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S7KFZU9XQ2I/AAAAAAAAEAY/iUaqc_mJM-Y/s320/left-or-right-757702.png" /></a></div><br />I know, I know, it shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? After all, they're <i>just</i> window control buttons. You know, the ones you use to minimize, maximize, or close the window. But it does.<br /><br />I would guess this stems from a bit of Mac-envy, as this follows the convention used by Apple. But <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1430585">not too many users, myself included, like the change</a>. It just throws me off.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>It would have been great if the placement of the controls were part of a theme, but no; for the Beta, anyhow, the control placement is global, applying to all themes.<br /><br />Luckily, the fix is easy enough (though hidden under layers):<br /><br />1. Start <code>gconf-editor</code> from the terminal<br />2. From the branch, select <code>Apps-&gt;Metacity-&gt;General</code><br />3. Modify button_layout to read: <code>menu:minimize,maximize,close</code><br /><br /><div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S7KFaEwtfAI/AAAAAAAAEAg/SL2TKzHlv2U/s1600/gconf-editor-759646.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454568781700234242" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S7KFaEwtfAI/AAAAAAAAEAg/SL2TKzHlv2U/s320/gconf-editor-759646.png" /></a></div><br /><div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S7KFau1fM1I/AAAAAAAAEAo/fXt855q0gEs/s1600/gconf-editor2-762398.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454568792994558802" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S7KFau1fM1I/AAAAAAAAEAo/fXt855q0gEs/s320/gconf-editor2-762398.png" /></a></div><br />After that, the controls should be back to where they are. Lucid is still on Beta, after all, so I hope the Ubuntu team come up with a reasonable solution for the ordinary users. You know, the <i>human beings</i>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/ICOKOue2EA4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/03/every-new-release-of-ubuntu-brings-with.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-41134355151195438282010-03-25T18:18:00.000+08:002010-03-25T18:18:21.922+08:00My first look at Ubuntu 10.04Ubuntu 10.04, Lucid Lynx, is now out on Beta. I thought I'd give it a quick spin to see what it had to offer.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz2TLMvRI/AAAAAAAAD9w/HTybuHaUcWY/s1600/lucid-00.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz2TLMvRI/AAAAAAAAD9w/HTybuHaUcWY/s320/lucid-00.png" /></a></div>First and most obviously, the brown Ubuntu theme we've come to know and love/hate is no more. In its place: a light shade of purple. Sigh. This will take some getting used to all over again.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz4qfc_-I/AAAAAAAAD94/j-BvLmbZly8/s1600/lucid-01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz4qfc_-I/AAAAAAAAD94/j-BvLmbZly8/s320/lucid-01.png" /></a></div>The applications menu looks the same as it ever did, but with some changes in applications.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz6aJUgUI/AAAAAAAAD-A/ESseLisk9rU/s1600/lucid-02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz6aJUgUI/AAAAAAAAD-A/ESseLisk9rU/s320/lucid-02.png" /></a></div>Fewer games than we had before, but in their place, some new ones, like the IQ test gBrainy...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0EOP6AeI/AAAAAAAAD-w/JEFVecEdugk/s1600/lucid-08.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0EOP6AeI/AAAAAAAAD-w/JEFVecEdugk/s320/lucid-08.png" /></a></div>...which looks to be quite challenging, actually. But I think it's an improvement over the old selection.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz775EfFI/AAAAAAAAD-I/vEIcsLa4PKM/s1600/lucid-03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz775EfFI/AAAAAAAAD-I/vEIcsLa4PKM/s320/lucid-03.png" /></a></div>As promised, The GIMP is no longer installed by default (though still installable via Ubuntu Software Center and Synaptic.)&nbsp; I must admit, though, in recent days, I have been using F-Spot more and more, and it suffices for most of my needs.&nbsp; That said, I will still be getting The GIMP.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz9j1BRCI/AAAAAAAAD-Q/if_wqnaltD0/s1600/lucid-04.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz9j1BRCI/AAAAAAAAD-Q/if_wqnaltD0/s320/lucid-04.png" /></a></div>A new addition to the Internet tools: Gwibber, a social networking client that connects to Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, etc.&nbsp; It's pretty slick, but since I've sworn off social networking, my blogs excepted, I don't expect to be using it at all.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0FGJJ_-I/AAAAAAAAD-4/Q1wy_1UyBpk/s1600/lucid-09.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0FGJJ_-I/AAAAAAAAD-4/Q1wy_1UyBpk/s320/lucid-09.png" /></a></div>Another controversial change when first announced: default search engine is no longer Google but Yahoo! (and behind it, Bing, from Microsoft.)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0Gntmg4I/AAAAAAAAD_A/H_15adA2pwQ/s1600/lucid-10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0Gntmg4I/AAAAAAAAD_A/H_15adA2pwQ/s320/lucid-10.png" /></a></div>Default browser is now Firefox 3.6.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz_ZY4niI/AAAAAAAAD-Y/S_myI7Y6128/s1600/lucid-05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6sz_ZY4niI/AAAAAAAAD-Y/S_myI7Y6128/s320/lucid-05.png" /></a></div>Roughly the same set of tools for office productivity.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0JdzoqHI/AAAAAAAAD_Q/NeLW9U1GLx4/s1600/lucid-11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0JdzoqHI/AAAAAAAAD_Q/NeLW9U1GLx4/s320/lucid-11.png" /></a></div>Installed OpenOffice.org is now at version 3.2.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0K-s9qlI/AAAAAAAAD_Y/6_2hOnN6E90/s1600/lucid-13.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0K-s9qlI/AAAAAAAAD_Y/6_2hOnN6E90/s320/lucid-13.png" /></a></div>A new tool: PiTiVi video editor. Haven't really tried it yet, but will check it out soon.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0IF1HWkI/AAAAAAAAD_I/CHu7_fyLM0w/s1600/lucid-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6s0IF1HWkI/AAAAAAAAD_I/CHu7_fyLM0w/s320/lucid-12.png" /></a></div>One thing I will continue to hate: the hard-to-modify login screen.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/omM_jn4traE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-first-look-at-ubuntu-1004.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-85477667727091146652010-03-19T11:02:00.003+08:002010-03-19T11:08:33.527+08:00A way out of all those Wubi problemsWith Ubuntu 9.10 came a serious problem with Wubi: sometimes, it just won't load the kernel, sometimes, it won't find the initial RAM disk. It's something I've already covered here. What makes the problem worse is that it's intermittent. You don't know when it will strike.<br /><br />Apparently, <a href="http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/bootinfoscript/index.php?title=Boot_Problems:Wubi_9.10">this is the cause</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>To be able to boot Wubi, Grub2 has to access the ntfs partition which is hosting Wubi. There is a bug in Grub 2, which prevents Grub2 to read any files on an ntfs partition beyond the first 4GB. If any of the boot files is outside of the 4GB limit, booting will fail. Depending on which boot file is outside the limit, the symptoms can be quite different. Since any kernel or Grub update relocates some of the boot files, you might be hit by this bug at any time. </blockquote><br /><br />To fix the problem, go to the link above, download the new <code>wubildr</code>, and replace the one you have in <code>C:\</code> of your Windows partition.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/WIbNzu7ZQ5A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/03/way-out-of-all-those-wubi-problems.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-64190693357705651712010-03-19T10:55:00.002+08:002010-03-19T11:02:45.801+08:00Removing the user list from Gnome 2.28 login screenFrom a security standpoint, it's not wise to present a list of users at the logon window. Why give intruders an idea of the accounts on the system, after all? Why make it easier for them to guess for access? <br /><br />Unfortunately, Gnome 2.28, which comes with Ubuntu 9.10, uses the dropdown list by default, and what's worse, doesn't give you any easy and intuitive way of changing it. That's just sad.<br /><br />In order to modify this, you'll have to open a terminal window and execute:<br /><br /><code>sudo -u gdm gconftool-2 --set --type boolean /apps/gdm/simple-greeter/disable_user_list true</code><br /><br />Idea from <a href="http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2009/12/23/remove-the-user-list-from-ubuntu-9-10-gdm-login-screen/">Ubuntu Tutorials: Remove the User List from Ubuntu 9.10 GDM</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/KPb6nz-c0dU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/03/removing-user-list-from-gnome-228-login.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-84599693887714622552010-03-17T09:02:00.003+08:002010-03-17T09:13:55.449+08:00Resizing with F-SpotFor the longest time I've resisted using F-Spot. Plain old bullheadedness on my part, I guess. I preferred to do things old school, manually arranging my photos in folders. But it just got to the point where I had too many photos and F-Spot became the most rational way to manage my pictures. Now that we've gotten acquainted, I'm loving it.<br /><br />Today I hurdled another problem that had been bugging me for some time: resizing photos in F-Spot. Apparently, you can install a plugin for resizing. Just go to <code>Edit-&gt;Manage Extensions</code>.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6AqZZjA2TI/AAAAAAAAD6I/57-Ukgn3zzs/s1600-h/resize.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6AqZZjA2TI/AAAAAAAAD6I/57-Ukgn3zzs/s400/resize.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449402164961138994" /></a><br /><br />From then on, a <code>Resize</code> button will appear in the Edit panel on the side. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6AqY9BROzI/AAAAAAAAD6A/qQeQAy55cNE/s1600-h/resize2.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 199px; height: 259px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S6AqY9BROzI/AAAAAAAAD6A/qQeQAy55cNE/s400/resize2.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449402157303413554" /></a><br /><br />The resize feature is fairly rudimentary. Aspect ratio is locked, so all you can do is change the width. For basic editing, this should be all you need.<br /><br />More <a href="http://f-spot.org/Extensions">F-Spot Extensions.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/9_Lw18mSYxo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-ubuntu-theme.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-23422400850312971962010-03-04T11:51:00.004+08:002010-03-04T12:29:18.687+08:00Ubuntu's new look<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S482JlOuUNI/AAAAAAAAD04/mE862Lz5ZdI/s1600-h/orangeubuntulogo.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 135px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S482JlOuUNI/AAAAAAAAD04/mE862Lz5ZdI/s400/orangeubuntulogo.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444630012754809042" /></a>Ubuntu has a new look, ready to take effect when 10.04 rolls out. <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Brand">Read more about it.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/DUtwgkVBSNc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/03/ubuntus-new-look.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-23985056950354664652010-03-02T21:39:00.001+08:002010-03-02T21:39:44.910+08:00Project Euler and PythonHaving done the workshop last week, I didn't have anything more to ask of my CS312 Advanced Topics class. All of them were graduating, and this week was supposed to be their finals. Why did I have to inflict another class on them? Or on myself?<br /><br />Alas, such generosity was not to be. This week, we had an evaluation team rating our division, with accreditation hanging in the balance. They would be visiting us in our natural environment to see how well we taught. That meant I would have to add one more session to my Advanced Topics class.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>As it turns out, I didn't need to anymore. The evaluation team did pay brief visits to my Operating Systems lab and lecture classes yesterday, but there were no more visits today. All the same, my students were all there: so why waste time when we could be, you know, learnin' and stuff?<br /><br />Since we only skimmed on Python the last time (along with other scripting languages), I dedicated today to that. Then I pointed them out to <a href="http://projecteuler.net">Project Euler</a>, and told them to do the problems using Python.<br /><br />Now, my class is mature enough that I didn't really expect a whole lot of bellyaching. But I needn't have worried. I got quite the opposite reaction: they loved it!<br /><br />For the next three hours, I couldn't get them to peer away from their monitors or take their hands off their keyboards. Probably the only time they did was when I showed them some of the basics. The level of concentration was so intense, it was scary. I called my co-teacher Michelle to witness the phenomenon; same result. I was afraid if we bothered them too much, they'd snarl at us.<br /><br />At the end of the lab class, we had one guy finish nine problems, and most of the others finishing three or four. I rounded it off with another couple of hours explaining the rest of the mechanics of Python.<br /><br />I only really have two regrets: one, why didn't I do this before; and two, where were the evaluators when my students were already acting at their best?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/UbuntuLiving/~4/Os_JJt2QK4M" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Dominique Gerald Cimafrancahttps://plus.google.com/116573086686674374514noreply@blogger.comhttp://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2010/03/project-euler-and-python.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505840714895883728.post-11432087779229085382010-02-25T13:07:00.001+08:002010-02-25T13:14:24.701+08:00Open Source Mini-conference<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAudPE3OI/AAAAAAAADzc/cSK82uHULGk/s1600-h/201002241733.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAudPE3OI/AAAAAAAADzc/cSK82uHULGk/s400/201002241733.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442037997845667042" /></a>In hindsight, I realize I took a gamble when I decided to organize an open source mini-conference at Ateneo de Davao. The way I envisioned it, the students from my CS312 Advanced Topics class -- whom I had been guiding through various open source technologies -- would be the ones to run the sessions. I would be strictly hands off.<br /><br />They came up with all sorts of interesting topics, too: <a href="http://elgg.org">ELGG</a> social networking software, site management with <a href="http://joomla.org">Joomla</a> and <a href="http://drupal.org">Drupal</a>, application development with <a href="http://cakephp.org">CakePHP</a>, <a href="http://code.google.com/android">Android</a>, and <a href="http://code.google.com/appengine">Google App Engine</a> with integration to Facebook. I also shanghaied two students from my operating systems class to talk about Ubuntu, and three students from last summer to talk about <a href="http://oscommerce.com">osCommerce</a>, <a href="http://synfig.org">Synfig</a>, and <a href="http://blender.org">Blender</a>.<br /><br />I had a daring plan, too, one probably never been tried in Ateneo before: we would be running parallel sessions. That meant four rooms, with at least two sessions each.<br /><br />But a day before the event, all sorts of worries plagued me, foremost among them: would anyone show up? That worry continued right until 5 minutes before we actually started.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>Well, I guess I needn't have worried. We were flooded with participants from all year levels of the Computer Studies Division. Though I asked my guys to keep the sessions at under twenty people, all controls went out the window and we had some rooms packed with students.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAqHBnJ0I/AAAAAAAADzU/q6TBdww5jhw/s1600-h/201002241736.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAqHBnJ0I/AAAAAAAADzU/q6TBdww5jhw/s400/201002241736.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442037923164137282" /></a><br />My other big worry was the lack of active participation from the attendees. From my experience, Filipino workshops are notorious for their passive audience. But yesterday, we broke through those cultural barriers as several people posted questions to the speakers. It wasn't quite the lively exchange I was hoping for (some were still quite passive), but I felt it was a breakthrough nonetheless.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAp-WPFUI/AAAAAAAADzM/LPQFAQ8R1tE/s1600-h/201002241737.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAp-WPFUI/AAAAAAAADzM/LPQFAQ8R1tE/s400/201002241737.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442037920834721090" /></a><br />Several students came to get ideas for their upcoming theses projects. Perhaps the most heartening sight was a pair of third year students approaching my fourth year students for technical advice post-session. This was just the connectivity I was hoping for.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YApYUF3tI/AAAAAAAADzE/eadnVV-s_5c/s1600-h/201002241741.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YApYUF3tI/AAAAAAAADzE/eadnVV-s_5c/s400/201002241741.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442037910625181394" /></a><br />Our division chief Rey Aliño also sat in one of the sessions. He seemed pretty happy about the whole affair. He said it might have even been better if we had run these sessions much earlier. That opened up all sorts of ideas for future semesters.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAo9KDQwI/AAAAAAAADy8/Q65ZU4ILVN4/s1600-h/201002241742.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAo9KDQwI/AAAAAAAADy8/Q65ZU4ILVN4/s400/201002241742.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442037903335310082" /></a><br />Before I forget: a big shoutout to my co-teacher Michelle Banawan for encouraging her students to attend the mini-conference.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAojNMTkI/AAAAAAAADy0/bQxpVLcBhc4/s1600-h/201002241743.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YAojNMTkI/AAAAAAAADy0/bQxpVLcBhc4/s400/201002241743.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442037896369163842" /></a><br />I should have brought a better camera, though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YHIWjt-8I/AAAAAAAADzk/Opn9WoGqbaE/s1600-h/201002241744.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IzriXotv1B4/S4YHIWjt-8I/AAAAAAAADzk/Opn9WoGqbaE/s400/201002241744.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442045039799565250" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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